The New York Football Giants did a thing that I wasn’t even sure could happen.
They unretired a number.
It’s not just any number either. The Giants are putting the No. 1, worn by franchise legend Ray Flaherty, back into circulation. In fact, Flaherty’s No. 1 is the first professional football number to get the retirement treatment. So this is a big deal. And they’re not doing it for just anyone. The Giants are bringing No. 1 out of number retirement for rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers, who was the No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Yep, this is a HUGE deal.
The New York Post had the scoop on the story, which includes an anecdote about asking the Flaherty family for permission. Meanwhile, the New York Giants made a cool graphic and included a quote from Nabers:
I love this quote from Malik Nabers, who shares the conversation he had with Ray Flaherty Jr. after learning he’d get to wear No. 1.
“I said, โI really appreciate you letting me wear your fatherโs retired jersey. Iโm gonna wear it with honor. Iโm gonna do my best when Iโm out there on the field to represent yโall the right way,” Nabers said, via the New York Post.
As for New York Giants owner John Mara, his words would make me think twice about asking him to un-retire a number:
โAfter thinking about it a little bit, my feeling was we would allow that only if the Flaherty family was OK with it. I think itโs very gracious on their part, and Malik understands that that comes with a certain responsibility and how he needs to conduct himself and represent the organization and the Flaherty family. Heโs been great about it, he immediately called them to thank them.โ
This is serious business and I hope Malik Nabers knows what he is getting himself into because franchise ownership isn’t making this decision willy-nilly.
Giants number unretirement has me thinking about the Bears
What do Gervon Dexter Sr., DeMarcus Walker, and Teven Jenkins have in common? Other than all of them being on the Bears’ active roster, all three players are wearing numbers of retired Pro Football Hall of Famers who laced ’em up for Chicago’s football team. The Bears have 14 jersey numbers retired, the most of any team in the NFL. This puts a limit on what is available for players to wear as they join the team. But now that the New York Giants have set a precedent on making numbers available, I wonder if the Bears will be next.
Should they do it? Entertaining an idea never hurt anyone. Will they? Well, that is a tougher question to answer. The Bears, as a franchise, are traditionalists in nature. But we’ve seen this team break from norms in recent years. So … why not keep on dabbling?
On the one hand, I’m down to honor our legends of the game with retired numbers. But on the other hand, I’ve long felt that one way to keep the memory of your all-time greats alive is by keeping numbers in circulation and distributing them only to players worthy of wearing the digits. For instance, there is a particular lore (which you can read about here) surrounding the University of Michigan’s football team and its issuing of No. 1. WIth that in mind, I sometimes wonder what it would be like if the Bears did something along those lines.
This isn’t a most pressing matter. But maybe someday down the line, we’ll see the Bears follow suit. And if they do, they’ll have Malik Nabers to thank.